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![Not allowed!](images/buttons/up_dis.png)
Now that the Super Rugby season is a week away it is time to ask the question.
Will the 2016 Force be a better team than the 2015 Force?
With largely the same squad that managed to earn the unwanted soup maker where will the improvements come from? Both new fly halves certainly have more attacking skill and nous than our former 10 who liked to kick away a lot of ball mostly for no reason. These new additions also bring with them the expectation of a more attacking mentality from the Force, the same Force side who could barely muster a tackle bust or a line break let alone a respectable number of tries scored last season. The return of Godwin to the inside centre role is well overdue and should help in overturning the toothless attack of 2015. Tapuai is an interesting addition. A Wallaby at his best, a forgotten player in recent seasons, will he regain some of his best form or will the niggling injuries continue to plague him. Masiwera looks a likely type. Hopefully this Fijian winger sees more ball in more favorable attacking positions than our last fijian winger did. My suggestion? Pass him the ball more thsn once a game. Lets not waste his talents like we did Nalaga. Morahan needs to get more ball in better positions too. Last year he went missing from large chunks of games and was exposed as being not the best tackler in the team. The great Dane will continue his rise and will be one of our best again.
But i still wonder if the promise of expansive play and attacking rugby is just that. A promise.
We still have the forwards to compete with most if not all other forward packs though set piece accuracy and reliability need to improve. We need to get our set piece success percentages up from the low 80s to the mid 90s if we are to exert more pressure of oppositions. Our forwards also desperately need to develop an offload game. Too often last year we were too predictable in the way we used our forward runners, usually a tuck and carry it while isolated sort of approach was our main tactic which continuously caused us to break down too often in attack. More variety in our pod running and setups is required. We have heard a lot of noise about the integration between forwards and backs this preseason in a more expansive style but do we have the skill level required to execute such ambition. I hope so, heck i think we all do.
The last thing mentioned about the new gameplan is speed of play. This is where i think we need to make the most improvement. Too often last year we were a slow, unimaginative and unskilled team in a division above our natural weight class. Too often our halfback was waiting for options or looking to organise options which should have been done for him by his team mates. This was SSSSOOOO frustrating last year. It put people to sleep watching it. We can recruit all the backs in the world but if we give them slow ball in front of a well organized defence they will again have difficulty finding the space necessary to attack effectively. This is where we need to improve the most to start our climb back up the mountain that is Super Rugby.
For me, for the Force to walk the walk, it needs to start up front. Improved accuracy at the set piece, more variety and offloads from our pod runners and quicker service to a more organized attack. Throw in some more points from the kicking tee and we will be competitive. We won't win the competition but we will improve a few places up the ladder. I think between 8th-12th is where we will finish. But more importantly i hope we start to walk the walk because talk is cheap and we have heard it all too often.
Last edited by Kalahard; 19-02-16 at 02:39.
Good analysis Kala, two things to add
Peter Grant is our big buy this year and he is well used to playing 10 man rugby, so I think a dominant pack with grant behind them will make for (more) effective games, but probably not more exciting.
The Canes trial showed glimpses of an offload game, but they were short lived. The positive was that it was effective as hell, being used in the lead up to two tries (and basically never else) the bad news was that there wasn't enough. Now maybe that was a trial game tactic "go out and try this for the next five minutes and well analyse the tapes" or maybe it was people on the field being unconfident, or not seeing the success it bought. Regardless the bones are there and all it needs is flesh. The really important thing about the offload game is that it should NEVER be overused and the communication within the entire team needs to be spot on for it to work, the effectiveness of offloading is the change in timing, it probably worked when it did because the Highlanders werent expecting it and we're hedging their defensive bets other ways. Throw a couple into the gameplan and you'll get similar gains, do nothing but that and it'll be as bad, if not worse, that running and dying four million times a game.
C'mon the![]()
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i reckon we need a bit more mongrel in defence and attack.
we seem to never drive anyone back in the tackle - merely be happy to stop them. i want to see more physical driving tackles, push them back behind the gain line. and the opposite, not have our players bent/pushed backwards behind the gainline. that'll also help teh backs.
Looking forward to DHP this year - seems to improve and get stronger every year. Hopefully he is allowed/supported in counter-attacks from FB more often.
Good points all round. My tuppence worth is "penalty's". We have to cut down on them considerably. How many times we seem to be in a great scoring position and then somebody comes in from the side, tackles high or some other "stupid" penalty.
Cut them out and things will start to come together.
May the FORCE be with you!
Think it was AndyS at a game a while ago made the comment that we mess up on the "1%ers". was a good point & something that continually seems to let us down. The most frustrating thing about watching the force is the silly mistakes or if it was tennis they'd be unforced errors.
To be successful that stuff needs to be eliminated.
So from the comments above: if we attack better, defend better, tackle better and don't make mistakes we'll win more games. Seems like a sound plan.
coz Stone Cold says so
Being the positive guy that I am - I look for the positives.
from the trials - we played 2 matches and managed to score 4 tries in each match.
Whilst there were a number of people who have been quick to criticize last years game plan - that Game plan did manage to defeat the Waratahs twice. Sometimes you have to wonder if the game plan was at fault, or was it the execution of the game plan?
If Matt Hodgson remains fit, If the back row can form a better combination, If Peter Grant and Jono Lance can establish a working relationship. and if the outside backs can get across the tryline on a regular basis - we are a Chance.
Exile
Port Macquarie
"Let me tell you something you already know. The world ain’t all sunshine and rainbows. It’s a very mean and nasty place and I don’t care how tough you are it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain’t about how hard ya hit. It’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward. That’s how winning is done! Now if you know what you’re worth then go out and get what you’re worth. But ya gotta be willing to take the hits, and not pointing fingers saying you ain’t where you wanna be because of him, or her, or anybody! Cowards do that and that ain’t you! You’re better than that!" - Rocky Balboa
Ex I could use the same number of ifs to finish with "I could buy the moon"
C'mon the![]()
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With "if" anything is possible
I hope Peter Grant plays a bit like David Hill did when we picked him up mid-season in 2010. Hill did a lot of kicking, but he also managed the game well and took the ball to the line well. Nothing amazing but helped the team to perform at a higher level and won four out of our final 7 games including that cracker against the Crusaders at nib.
Smoke me a kipper, I'll be back for breakfast.